Oklahoma
Williams entered his true freshman season with the Oklahoma Sooners in 2021 as the backup to Spencer Rattler,[9][10] before assuming the role as starting quarterback midway through the Sooners' rivalry game with the Texas Longhorns in the team's sixth game of the season.[11] In that game, Oklahoma was down 35–17 before Williams replaced Rattler and led the Sooners to a 55–48 victory.[12] He finished with 212 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, 88 yards rushing, and a rushing touchdown.[13] Williams made his first start the following week, against Texas Christian University, and threw for 295 yards, four touchdowns, and rushed for 66 yards and a rushing touchdown as Oklahoma won 52–31.[14] In 7 games he finished his freshman year with 21 passing touchdowns, 6 rushing touchdowns, and 4 interceptions.[15]
USC
On January 3, 2022, Williams entered the transfer portal, and on February 1, he announced that he had transferred to the University of Southern California to play for the Trojans, reuniting him with head coach Lincoln Riley, who had been the head coach for the Sooners before being hired away by the Trojans the previous November.[16][17] Williams was named the starter on August 25[18] and team captain on August 31.[19] In his first start against Rice, he went 19/22 with 249 yards and two touchdowns, as USC won 66–14.[20] He became the AP College Football Player of the Year, USC's first winner since Reggie Bush in 2005,[21] and was named the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner.[22] His 42 passing touchdowns led the NCAA.[23]
Williams and the Trojans went 7–5 in 2023 during the regular season, throwing for 3,333 yards with 31 passing and 11 rushing touchdowns.[24][25] He declared for the 2024 NFL draft following the season, finishing his college career throwing for nearly 10,000 yards with 120 total touchdowns.[26]
Statistics
Year | School | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
2021 | Oklahoma | 11 | 7 | 5–2 | 136 | 211 | 64.5 | 1,912 | 9.1 | 21 | 4 | 169.6 | 79 | 442 | 5.6 | 6 |
2022 | USC | 14 | 14 | 11–3 | 333 | 500 | 66.6 | 4,537 | 9.1 | 42 | 5 | 168.5 | 113 | 382 | 3.4 | 10 |
2023 | 12 | 12 | 7–5 | 266 | 388 | 68.6 | 3,333 | 8.6 | 30 | 5 | 170.1 | 97 | 142 | 1.5 | 11 | |
Career | 37 | 33 | 23–10 | 735 | 1099 | 66.9 | 9,782 | 9.2 | 93 | 14 | 169.3 | 289 | 966 | 3.3 | 27 |